No communion if sashes worn
St. Paul, Minn. A Roman Catholic priest denied communion to more than 100 people Sunday, saying they could not receive the sacrament because they wore rainbow- colored sashes to church to show support for gay Catholics.
The Rev. Michael Sklucazek told the congregation at the Cathedral of St. Paul that anyone wearing a sash could come forward for a blessing but would not receive wine and bread.
A group called Rainbow Sash Alliance has encouraged supporters to wear the multicolored fabric bands since 2001 on each Pentecost Sunday, the day Catholics believe the Holy Spirit came to give power to Christians after Jesus ascended to heaven. Sunday’s service was the first time they were denied communion at the altar.
Suspect in girl’s death tries to dig out of jail
Tampa, Fla. A convicted sex offender accused of killing a 13-year-old girl, then dumping her body in a pond, was caught trying to dig out of his jail cell, officials said.
David Onstott, 36, was found scratching on the concrete wall near the floor of his cell Saturday with a metal towel holder he apparently pried off a desk, officials said. He’d scraped about a quarter inch into the concrete.
Police said Onstott confessed to choking Sarah Lunde after getting into an argument with the girl at her Ruskin home in April. Her partially clothed body was found a week after she disappeared in an abandoned fish pond.
L.A. jail will try using electronic wristbands
Sacramento, Calif. Authorities in Los Angeles said Sunday they will begin tracking inmates in the nation’s largest jail system using new radio-linked wristbands to pinpoint their location within a few feet.
The county plans to spend $1.5 million to tag about 1,900 inmates in one unit of Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, about 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, early next year.
If it works, the program may be expanded to 6,000 inmates at the county’s central jail and then to other facilities, officials said.
The tracking device is an updated version of wristbands tested since 2000 at California’s Calipatria State Prison near the Mexican border – the nation’s first to track inmates electronically.
Four bomb explosions follow Spain overture
Madrid, Spain Suspected Basque separatists detonated four small bombs in the region Sunday, police said – a day after Spain’s government made an unprecedented proposal for Parliament to endorse talks with the group if it renounced violence.
Two policemen and a security guard suffered minor injuries after inhaling toxic fumes at a chemical plant where one of the pre-dawn blasts occurred, police said.
The explosions came a day after Spain’s ruling Socialist party said it is seeking other parties’ support for a parliamentary motion supporting talks with ETA if the group renounces violence, although negotiations would rule out concessions toward ETA’s goal of Basque independence.
Dozens feared lost after ferry capsizes
Patukhali, Bangladesh An overloaded passenger ferry capsized in strong winds and high waves in southern Bangladesh on Sunday, killing at least 22 people and leaving at least 80 others missing, an official said.
The double-decker ferry capsized and sank in the Bura Gauranga River after a strong wind struck it about 95 miles south of the capital Dhaka.
Rescuers recovered the bodies of 22 people, including four children. More were feared dead as relatives carried away bodies and the search continued for victims who drowned.
The ferry was carrying more than 150 passengers – twice its capacity.